As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson
Women’s Health Organization, access to abortion services is now
being regulated by a patchwork of state and federal laws, regulations, and
judicial and administrative decisions. This state-by-state approach is impacting
our clients in a number of different ways that may require legal guidance.
For example, employers who provide ERISA-sponsored health plans may need to navigate
conflicts between ERISA requirements and state law restrictions on abortion and
other reproductive health services. Employers seeking to provide abortion and other
reproductive health services as a benefit for employees need to assess state law
restrictions on these services, as well as whether their corporate entities or
executives could be subject to criminal or civil liability. Technology companies
such as cloud storage providers and applications developers, as well as any entity
that creates, receives, or stores personal information, may be required to disclose
data in relation to civil or criminal laws restricting abortion services.
Additionally, a host of industry-specific issues impact healthcare providers and
systems, including compliance with state laws on the types of services that can be
provided, multistate licensure and state regulations impacting telehealth,
prescribing and dispensing laws, healthcare data privacy, and federal preemption and
non-discrimination laws.
